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Barasch was born to Menachem and Gusta Barasch and grew up in Czernowitz. […] His father was a Zionist who introduced his son to the tradition of Haskala, the Jewish Enlightenment.

The young Barasch showed himself to have substantial art talent. By age 12, he had already exhibited his drawings and paintings in Czernowitz, Prague, Budapest and Boston, which he visited. He wrote daily in his notebooks, one of which was a diary. As a member of the Haggana, the Jewish military organization later to become the Israeli army, he used his artistic skills to forge passports for fleeing Jews. […]

Barasch was Senior Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Univ. Center for Italian Renaissance Studies (“I Tatti”), Florence, in 1969. He was appointed Jack Cotton Professor of the History of Art and Chair of of Institute of Fine and Performing Arts, Hebrew University in 1971, which he held until 1975, intermittently acting as a Visiting Professor and Research Associate at New York University between 1970-79. He was Senior Fellow at Cornell University’s Society for Humanities in 1981and the same year Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

In 1982 he taught as a visiting professor at the Freie Universität, Berlin. He published the first edition of his collected documents on the history of art theory in 1985. Between 1986-88 he taught at Yale University. In 1987 he published his Giotto and the Language of Gesture, major contribution to the literature on that artist. He became emeritus in 1988. In 1996 he was the recipient of the Israel Prize, and elected corresponding member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences. Barasch was the first Israeli art historian to attain worldwide recognition, lecturing widely at institutions in Europe and the United States (Freedman). […]

His lectures and books, many of which were written in Hebrew, helped to develop the art historical terminology in that language and drew attention to many of the themes that were to attract scholars in the humanities. Three generations of Israelis grew up on the books he wrote, edited. He was also instrumental in having important art history texts translated into Hebrew. Francis Peters’ 1985 book on Jerusalem was dedicated to him and his wife.

Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 9, No. 17 (1988), pp. 127-135

Reflections on Tombstones: Childhood Memories

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Czernowitz Art Gallery

Elderly Jew – Arthur Kolnik (Ivano-Frankivsk 1890 – 1972 Paris)

Solomon Lerner (Kiev 1890 – 1963 Israel)

Paris Scene with Nude – Bernard Reder (Czernowitz 1897 – 1963 New York)

Self Portrait – George Löwendal (Saint Petersburg 1897 – 1964 Bucharest)

Wladimir Zagorodnikow (Kursk 1896 – 1984 Graz)

Paul Konrad Hoenich (Czernowitz 1907 – 1997 Haifa)

Bukovinian Landscape – Paul Verona (Braila 1867 – 1946 Bucharest)

Female Nude – Berthold Klinghofer (Paltinoasa 1899 – ? Italy)

Tulips – Isidora Constantinovici-Hein (Campulung Moldovenesc 1889 – 1980)

Dos Yidishe Shtolz

Jose Gutman

DOS IDISHESTOLTZ

JEWISH PRIDE

You must remember this,DIMUSTZIJDERMANEN

A bris is still a bris,AS A BRIS ISDOJ A BRIS UND

A chai is just a chai.A JAI IS DOJA JAI

Pastrami still belongs on rye,UND PASTRAMIGEHERTTZURYE

As time goes by.AS DI ZEIT GUEITARIBER

With holidays in view,AS SE CUMT TZU YOM TOV

A Jew is still a Jew,A YIDIS DOJAYID

On that you can rely.OIF DEN KENST DU FARTROIEN

No matter if we eat sushiA FILLEAS MEN EST SUSHI

As hours slip by.AS DI SHOIENGUEIN ARIBER

Old shtetl customs, never out of date.

DIALTESHTETEL MINUGUEN, GEIN NIT FORIBER

All those potatoes mother has to grate.

ALE DI BARBULES DI MAME DARFNOJRAIBEN

Honey, tsimus, latkes, chopped liver on our plate

HONIK, TZIMES, LATKES, GUEFILTE FISH

Guefilte fish, chopped liver, schmaltz and a

shpritz,

UND GUEHAKTE LEIBER SCHMALTZUND A SHPRITZ

The best that gelt can buy

DOS BESTE VOSGUELT KENKOIFEN

Some would send us to perdition,

ASAJVOLTEN UNS BAGRUBEN

But we’re strengthened by tradition,

OBER MIR ZENENFARSHTARKT BY TRADITZIE

That no one can deny.

UND DOS KEN KEINERZAJNISCHTUPZUGEN

We roam, but we recall our birthright,

MIR VANDERN, OBER MIR DERMONENZJJVU MIRZENEN GEBOIRN

As time goes by.AS DI ZEIT GUEITARIBER

Dreidels and chocolate, never out of date.

DREIDLS UNDCHOCOLAT, GUEIENENNISHTAUSDER MODE

Ancient Jewish stories that we all relate.

DIALTEIDISHE MAISES MIRALLEDERZEILEN

Blue-and-white gift wrap, everything that’s great?

VAIS UND BLUMIR VIKLEN EIN ALS VUS IS TAIER

And festive chazerai!

UNDIOMTEVDIKEJAZERAI

It’s still the same old Torah,

ES IST DOJ DI ALTE TOIRE

It’s still the same menorah,

UND DI ALTE MENOIRE

We’ve latkes still to fry.

UND DI LATKESMIR DARFEN BRUTN

It’s at yomtov when we feel most blessed,

ES IST IOMTEVVEN MIR FILMER ZAIJ GEBENSCHT

As time goes by.

AS DI TZEIT GEIT ARIBER

Yiddish joke.

Overhearing a jewish parvenu couple in old time America . Speaking strictly “only” English : ” Moses, ken ich mich shoin dressn oder willsti mich noch usen ?”

Hardy

Czrenovitzer Fraint Mir Heiben on.

Liebe Czernowitzer Fraint.Di letste tzwai wochenseinen gevein schvere teig far yeden einem,as mir hoben gueendiktmit di holushkes und ungehoiben sich tzu dermanen in di fargangene yurn es ist uns alleshveir guevoren of dein hartz.

Dear Czernowitzer friends; the last two weeks were difficult days for all of us, as we did finish with the holushkes, and then started to go back to the bygone years, and all of us got heavy hearts.

Mein zugt as es ist shver tzu zain a yid, und dus ist emes. Mir leben mit di gedanke fun di shlejte tzaitn und mir vilen nisht farguesen dus vus hot pasirt.

They say is difficult to be Jewish, and t is true. We live with our remembrances of the bad times and we don’t want to forget what happened

A teil fun uns vilen moichel zein und andere pushet vilen nisht . Yeider einer hot dos recht tzu denken vi er vil und men darf keinem nisht bashuldigen, vail beide zeine gerecht.

Some of us want to forgive, and some simply don’t want to. Every one has the right to think as he pleases, and we can’t Judge them because both are right.

Maine fraint mir veisen as di welt hotuns nischt lieb, un es drikzij ois in farshidene vegen, ober men ken gurnisht oder zeir veinik ton, men mus leben vaiter und mir turn zij nisht losen mit di fis treiten.

My friends, we know that the World doesn’t like us, and we perceive it in different ways, but there is nothing we can do about it or very little, life has to go on and we should not allow to be trampled by any body.

Mir darfen gein Vaiter,und un halten ales vus hot uns gebracht bis aher.Mentur gurnisht farliren, mir darfen vainen und lachn, mir darfen zeij delectiren mit di machulem vus unzer muters und babes hoben far uns guemacht, mit unzere vitzn und zeir vichtig unsere gelibteyidishe shprach.Lo mir ale eneinemtun vusmir kenen kedei zi zol nisht engantsenuntergein.

We have to continue, and keep every thing that has brought us up to this time. We should not get anything lost, we have to laugh, and cry, we have to enjoy the wonderful feasts that our mothers and grand mothers made for us, our Jokes and above all our beloved Yiddish language. We should all together, do as much as we can, so that it does not disappear all together.

Vus epes mir velen tienis tumet beser vi gurnisht, und tumet kemen es farbesern.

What ever we can do is always better than nothing, and we can always improve it.

Eich vil hofen as ale veren mier hobn a Grosse anue, naches und freit fun dos vos mir heibn haint un.

I want to hope that all of us are going to have great pleasure and joy from what we are starting to day.

A sheinem grus far ale: Isidoro

With kind regards for every body, Isidoro,

Isidoro Zaidman

Isidoro@racsa.co.cr

Tribute to Dol and Robert Dauber

Adolf Dauber was very famous in Czechoslovakia and Austria prior to World War II. He used the stage name Dol or Dolfi as derived from his first name. He was best known for his dance and jazz band arrangements. During the war, Dauber and his wife were somehow spared from being deported to a concentration camp. But in 1943, Dauber’s son Robert was sent to Theresienstadt.

During a visit to Prague, Hitler requested that Dol Dauber play in the presence. Dauber stated that he would do so if his son were released. His request was refused. Robert Dauber was twenty when he was sent to Theresienstadt, where he performed on 23.09.1943 the legendary staging of the children’s opera Brundibár.

Later, Robert was sent to Dachau, where he perished in 1945. Dol Dauber’s rapid professional decline after the war and his relatively early death on 15.09.1950 may be linked to his depression over the loss of his son.

Wikipedia: “…Krasa and Hoffmeister wrote the opera [Brundibár] in 1938 for a government competition, but the competition was later cancelled due to political developments. Rehearsals started in 1941 at the Jewish orphanage in Prague, which served as a temporary educational facility for children separated from their parents by the war. In the winter of 1942 the opera was first performed at the orphanage: by this time, composer Krasa and set designer Frantisek Zelenka had already been transported to Theresienstadt.

By July 1943, nearly all of the children of the original chorus and the orphanage staff had also been transported to Theresienstadt. Only the librettist Hoffmeister was able to escape Prague in time.Reunited with the cast in Theresienstadt, Krasa reconstructed the full score of the opera, based on memory and the partial piano score that remained in his hands, adapting it to suit the musical instruments available in the camp: flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, piano, percussion, four violins, a cello and a double bass.

A set was once again designed by Frantisek Zelenka, formerly a stage manager at the Czech National Theatre: several flats were painted as a background, in the foreground was a fence with drawings of the cat, dog and lark and holes for the singers to insert their heads in place of the animals’ heads.

On 23 September 1943, Brundibár premiered in Theresienstadt. The production was directed by Zelenka and choreographed by Camilla Rosenbaum, and was shown 55 times in the following year.

A special performance of Brundibár was staged in 1944 for representatives of the Red Cross who came to inspect living conditions in the camp; what the Red Cross did not know at the time was that much of what they saw during their visit was a show, and that one of the reasons the Theresienstadt camp seemed comfortable was that many of the residents had been deported to Auschwitz in order to reduce crowding during their visit.

Later that year this Brundibar performance was filmed for a Nazi propaganda film. The Brundibar footage from this film is included in the Emmy-Award winning documentary “Voices of the Children” directed by Zuzana Justman, a Terezin survivor, who sang in the chorus. Ela Weissberger who played the part of the cat, appears in the film.

Most of the participants in the Theresienstadt production, including the composer Krása, were later exterminated in Auschwitz…”

http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Bukowinabook/buk2_098.html
http://claude.torres1.perso.sfr.fr/Terezin/MyCabaret.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dauber
http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/forum/programmhefte/details/heft/und-fuer-uns-alle-gruent-ein-einzger-baum/
http://www.abruckner.com/downloads/downloadsthissite/dauberscherzo/